Bravo Zulu BC Ready Room Gouge

from Approach Magazine - JAN/FEB 2005

Who’s Seen the T-handle?

Lt. Thomas J. Oneglia, a VT-6 flight instructor, and his student, Ens. Glen Cabarcas, were on a mid-stage, day contact flight (call sign Shooter 252) out of NAS North Whiting Field. As they climbed through 4,500 feet, they received a call from Pensacola departure, requesting their assistance with a civilian aircraft in distress.

A single-engine Cessna had declared critical fuel and was heading toward Brewton airport for an emergency landing when Shooter 252 got the call. Following a vector from Pensacola departure, Shooter 252 soon spotted the Cessna at their 11 o’clock position, descending through approximately 1,500 feet. Soon after Shooter 252 spotted the aircraft, however, the Cessna ran out of gas and began a spiraling descent to a controlled landing in a farmer's field a couple miles west of Brewton.

Shooter 252 was given a discrete frequency and then flew over the downed aircraft to survey the scene. The two pilots appeared OK, and there was no fire; this information was passed to departure, along with locating information, which included radial-DME and visual-reference points. Departure told Shooter 252 to proceed on course and complete their flight. Cell phone contact from the Cessna pilot to emergency services later confirmed no injuries.

Several minutes later, however, departure called Shooter 252 (on UHF guard) and requested assistance directing an ambulance to the crash scene. Shooter 252 returned to the scene and passed locating information, including precise GPS lat/long coordinates. They remained on station to vector the ambulance through a number of dirt roads to the crash site. Once the ambulance reached the crash site, Shooter 252 was released from responsibilities as on-scene commander and recovered at North Whiting.

Following the incident, Lt. Oneglia said, “I’m glad we were in the right place at the right time to provide assistance. My student did a great job spotting the aircraft as it was going down, and we were relieved to learn both pilots were not hurt.”